Restive
by Deandra
Summary: Eomer’s behavior concerns his wife. ONESHOT. Part 76 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


_**Part 76 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.**_

**Restive**

**(Jun, 43 IV)**

For nearly a week, Lothiriel had seen little of her husband. He had been coming to bed well after she was asleep, and was gone before she arose. In the past, that had not been entirely unusual as there had been many pressing matters in the kingdom of Rohan that required the king's attention, but in more recent years, his son and heir, Elfwine, had been able to relieve his aging father of some of the burden.

Despite being two and seventy years, Eomer was still quite a robust man. Indeed, all things considered, Lothiriel thought her husband had aged remarkably well. His many years as a soldier had unavoidably taken a physical toll, and his body bore numerous scars from those conflicts, but he still kept in shape with riding and sword practice. At times it was difficult to realize what his true age was.

Still, it concerned her that the king might be overworking himself. Worse still, she had been hearing murmurings among servants and others, when they did not notice her near, telling of Eomer's short temper and recent outbursts.

In the early years of their marriage, Eomer had found it difficult to restrain his temper on occasion, but over time he had become adept at keeping it in check. Indications now were that he was regressing on that point, and more than one person had felt the sting of his anger. She began to wonder if her seeing so little of him perhaps wasn't due to his avoiding her presence, and having her see his behavior.

She determined to spend some time with her husband and assess the situation for herself. Just as Lothiriel arrived in the Golden Hall, she saw the king exiting and the door slamming furiously behind him as those in the room winced. For several moments she stared at the swaying tapestries near the door, then turned a questioning eye on her husband's Doorward and friend, Gamling.

With a sigh, he caught her elbow and drew her to the side for a private conversation. It took a moment for him to collect his thoughts, but finally he admitted, "I do not know what is troubling Eomer, but he has become increasingly restive of late. He has not mentioned anything being the matter, but his attention wanders in meetings and his temper flares more and more frequently."

With a sigh and nod of her head, Lothiriel asked, "He has gone to his study?"

Gamling inclined his head in corroboration and she moved silently in that direction.

Outside the study door, she hesitated. Normally, Eomer would have shared with her if there was something troubling him. He had not done so in this instance, and perhaps he would not confide in her now. It was possible he would consider her approaching him an intrusion, but it must be done – for the peace of Meduseld as well as for the sake of her husband.

Taking a deep breath, she entered without knocking. Eomer's head came up in annoyance from where he was slouched in the chair at his desk, a brooding look on his face. For a fleeting moment, a look crossed his face, almost of guilt, but then reverted to the dark expression of earlier. "Did you want something, Lothiriel?" he asked quietly and purposefully, without any shade of emotion.

Moving closer to the desk she stopped, facing him, and said gently, "I want to know what troubles you, my love." There seemed little point in elaborating beyond that. It was unlikely he did not know what she meant.

"Who says anything is troubling me?" he queried petulantly, avoiding answering the question.

"I do," she answered resolutely. Moving around the desk, she stepped behind him, her hands going to his shoulders and kneading the muscles there. She was not surprised to find them taut to the touch. It took several moments, but gradually he began to relax under her ministrations.

At length, he caught her wrist and drew her around to sit on his lap, leaning his head against hers. No words were spoken for a long time, until finally he ventured, "I…I feel dissatisfied. I know I should not. I have a wonderful wife and exceptional children; I have lived a good life and done much of which I can be proud. But…something is missing."

His arms tightened around her, and then he confessed, "It is selfish of me, but I watched Theodred ride away and I envied him. I wanted to have his freedom, I wanted to have his adventures – I wanted to be anywhere but where I am, doing what I am doing."

They sat in silence and then he spat angrily, "I am the _king_! I have no right to indulge in such fantasies! Mine is only to serve until I die!"

His torment tore at her heart and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pressing her lips to his temple. It took some time for her to find words to speak, but then she offered, "It is not wrong to long for what you do not have, my love, but doing so excessively will only bring you unhappiness. In truth, I cannot say that I am entirely surprised by this admission."

His head abruptly came up as he looked questioningly into her eyes. Continuing, she told him, "From the first moment I met you, beloved, I knew you were a man of action, a man of freedom. Though you did not mind serving others, you still enjoyed the liberty of being your own person and making your own way in the world. I knew from the start that you would always chafe somewhat at the restrictions of kingship. No longer would anything you did be entirely private. No longer would you be competely free to choose your day and your activities. Together we have managed to sneak in a few moments of escape for you, here and there, but I do not find it unexpected that you do not consider those sufficient to your need."

They sat holding one another in silence once more, until Lothiriel caught his chin and turned his gaze upon her again. "Elfwine is equal to the task of responsibilities here for a time. At our ages, we are not entirely unencumbered, but what do you say to our taking a small escort and setting off for the next two months – to wander wherever you choose. We will not ask the council's permission; we will not give them an itinerary that we will be following. Third Marshal Eomer will wander at will, his bride at his side, coming and going as he pleases. It may not entirely satisfy the need in you, but perhaps it will help a bit."

Eomer stared at his wife with incredulity. Surely she was not suggesting… No, Lothiriel always knew what she was doing, and more importantly, she always seemed to know what he needed. Maybe this would not be exactly the fantasy he imagined, but it very likely would satisfy his hunger. And that she was so willing to indulge him, despite any reservations she might have was overwhelming. She was not a young woman, and likely would find such an excursion physically taxing, but he was equally certain she would never send him off without her – nor would he want her to do so.

Burying his face in her hair, he murmured softly, "Thank you, my love."

THE END

4-19-06

_**A/N: Keep in mind that Theoden was 71 when he died on the Pelennor, leading his men in battle. Eomer is 72 here and Lothiriel is 64. That should give you a frame of reference for picturing this scenario.**_

_**Eric had suggested Eomer having a midlife crisis, but it took awhile to come up with something that I thought might work in that context.**_

**FYI: When I wrote "Restive" I was unaware that it had more basis in Tolkien fact than I knew. While looking up something else, I discovered the following, which some of you will already know and some of you won't. I pass it along to anyone who is interested.**

**From The Thain's Book website, I found this:**

**Looking under Lands & Regions, Rohan, near the bottom of the text before Important Dates it says: **_** "Eomer and the Rohirrim frequently accompanied Aragorn into the lands of the East and South where enemies formerly in Sauron's service still roamed. Eomer created the position of Underking to rule Rohan in the King's absence or to lead the Rohirrim into battle in place of the King. This was usually the King's heir."**_

**I checked the references they give and found Underking mentioned in the Index to Unfinished Tales (pg. 386 in my copy). It gives more details about this "Underking":**_** It usually only happened in time of war and was a special appointment wherein the holder either ruled the realm in the King's absence or took command in the field while the King stayed home. In peacetime, it was only filled when the King became sick or old age prevented his carrying out his authority. Naturally, the heir to the throne was chosen if he was old enough to do so. But in war, the Council wouldn't go along with an old King sending his Heir into battle beyond the realm unless he had at least one other son. **_**(this is****a paraphrase of what is in the book)**

**So, that gives a bit more credence to the idea that Eomer could turn matters over to Elfwine to rule in his absence, though there isn't the argument for war or even "need" per se, in this case. But Eomer needed a mental health break, so maybe that still counts.**

**- Deandra**_**  
**_

**_End note:  It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content._**


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